Chicken Stew is a delicious meal with chicken, potatoes and sweet potatoes, onions and carrots. It’s all simmered in a rich seasoned chicken broth until tender. It’s one of our all time favorite meals (along with beef stew)!
A recipe like this chicken stew is a meal unto itself… full of protein, healthy carbs and veggies. We serve it with a salad or Easy Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits to sop up anything left in the bowl. It’s true chicken soup perfection.
Chicken soups are truly the ultimate comfort food from Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup to belly warming Chicken Rice Soup. This easy chicken stew fits the bill perfectly.
How To Make Chicken Stew
This simple chicken stew recipe is fully loaded with tender chicken and vegetables simmered in a deliciously seasoned broth! I use thighs because they tend to hold up better to the simmering but breasts can work well in this recipe too!
If you’re using chicken breasts, I would suggest browning the chunks and then adding in the last 20 minutes or so. If you have other veggies you love (root vegetables are especially great) add them in!
- Brown chicken at a high temp. No need to cook it through, you just want the caramelization and flavor.
- Soften onions/carrots/celery and add flour (to thicken a bit).
- Add broth, herbs and veggies. Homemade chicken stock or store bought work just fine.
- Simmer.
Crazy easy right? I add a bit of heavy cream at the end to make this chicken stew just a little bit creamy. You can skip the cream if you prefer or add extra if you’d like.
How To Thicken Chicken Stew
Sweet potatoes are a great addition to this hearty chicken stew recipe and they do soften quite a bit, this helps thicken it. The flour added at the beginning will thicken this chicken stew but you can certainly thicken it more if you’d like!
You can use a mixture of either cornstarch or flour with broth or water. I find cornstarch is less likely to be lumpy but flour tends to reheat/freeze better so the choice is yours! You can also add instant potatoes to thicken a little bit at a time.
How To Make a Slurry
Combine 2 tablespoons flour with 1 cup of water or broth (I prefer broth) and shake very well. Pour the slurry a little at a time into the boiling chicken stew while stirring. Once your stew is thickened, allow it to boil for a couple of minutes.
You’ll want to make sure your flour mixture has no lumps before you add it, I use a shaker jar or mason jar and shake really well.
Can You Freeze Chicken Stew?
Chicken Stew can be frozen! If you plan on freezing it, I’d suggest using flour as a thickener (not cornstarch) as it will have a better consistency. I personally freeze in individual servings because they defrost faster and I can take out as many as I need to serve.
More Chicken Soup Recipes You’ll Love
- Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Easy Chicken Taco Soup
- Chicken Wild Rice Soup (no cream)
- Chicken Barley Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
- Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie Soup
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs about 8 thighs, diced 1-inch
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 ribs celery diced
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour divided
- ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ¼ teaspoon ground sage
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 ½ cups diced potatoes peeled if using russets or baking potatoes
- 1 ½ cups diced sweet potatoes peeled
- ½ red bell pepper finely diced
- ¼ cup white wine
- 4 cups chicken broth or chicken stock
- 1 cup green beans cut into 1-inch pieces, or frozen peas, thawed
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- In a large pot or dutch oven, brown chicken in 1 tablespoon olive oil (it doesn't have to be cooked through). Remove from pot and set aside.
- Cook onion, carrot and celery in remaining olive oil for about 3 minutes or until onion is slightly softened. Stir in 3 tablespoons of flour, seasonings and salt & pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes.
- Add potatoes, sweet potatoes, red pepper, white wine, browned chicken and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes.
- Remove lid and stir in green beans and cream. Thicken if desired (below) and simmer an additional 10 minutes uncovered.
- To thicken: In a mason jar combine remaining 2 tablespoons flour and 1 cup water or broth. Shake very well (ensure there are no lumps) and add a little at a time to boiling stew to reach desired consistency.
Video
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
REPIN this Delicious Recipe
Can I substitute corn starch for the flour as I’m gluten free?
Thanks!
That should work just fine. You’ll want to create a slurry (equal parts cornstarch and water) and whisk it into the boiling stew to thicken before serving.
Awesome chicken stew! I used homemade chicken stock and poached a whole chicken. Subbed asparagus for green beans and also added petite peas. This will go on regular rotation. Found this recipe by chance and signed up for email posts! Thanks Holly.
So glad you loved it!!
Chicken stew delicious
A simple and easy to make chicken stew recipe. I really like this recipe. Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us.
So delicious and versatile, have added and left out numerous combos of vegetables, all depending on what I have on hand. Always tasty, and a hit with my 5-year old who is otherwise vegetable-averse.
This was so good! Make this.
I did not use the wine and subbed half and half for the heavy cream. I used peas, not green beans. I also only did 3 cups of the broth and saved the other cup for the flour slurry at the end. I also added some worchestire and a little bit of vinegar at the end – maybe two tablespoons or so. So tasty!
The recipe sounds delicious. I am Gluten & Dairy intolerant. I have GF flour to thicken the stew. But any suggestions other than cream for me to use? Maybe Coconut milk? Thanks for the help. I am looking forward to making the stew with your suggestions to suit my dietary needs .
Hi Pat, we have only made this recipe as listed, but coconut milk sounds like a good substitution. Let us know how it turns out!
Can i omit the heavy cream or is it necessary for the flavor? Thank you!
It adds a bit of creaminess to the recipe but you can leave it out if you’d prefer.
I am GF and diary intolerant as well. I’ve used chickpea flour to thicken and Oatly Barista blend oat mylk in place of creams in other recipes with good results. Cornstarch/tapioca starch/arrowroot is also a go to for thickening!
Finally, a soup/stew recipe I love and will definitely make again! Followed recipe exactly and took the suggestion of adding instant potato flakes at the end to thicken up a bit. It was delicious. My family really enjoyed it and was even more tasty the next day for lunch.
Wonderful recipe. Better than my mother made! I don’t mean to second guess the author of this dish but I did end up having to add a lot of liquid.: but it just made for more “goodness”.
Thank you very much
Made this tonight. One of the best chicken stews ive ever made. Absolutely delicious. Thank you. We all loved it.
Great company dish. I used flour and added a little sliced mushrooms toward the end. Served with warm homemade bread. Delicious!
Do you mean 2 sticks of celery?
Yes, this is two individual ribs, about ½ cup or so
Amazing stew! We are in quarantine right now and this was the perfect comfort food. Thank you for the delicious recipe.
This was Delicious!! Unfortunately I kinda took some liberties with it due to supply and demand in my frig. I used and browned the chicken thighs, sauteed the onions, carrots, celery and mixed in the flour slurry with all required seasonings. I used the chicken stick and white wine. Instead if the white and sweet potatoes I added a package of frozen cubed butternut squash. I also added a bag of frozen mixed soup veges which had the red pepper in it. I added some noodles and the cream. Oooh so good!! Thank You for a terrific recipe.
Tried this for the first time and it was delicious! Made a few adjustments such as added sliced garlic while sautéing the chicken and and used diced chicken breast instead of thighs, veg broth and added 2 tablespoons of butter in the end.
Next time I plan on adding some freshly chopped spinach. Yum!
This is great tasting! Directions would be clearer if the ingredient list noted boneless chicken. Also agree that prep time at 15 minutes was deceiving – took me way longer. Lastly, would be helpful to suggest fresh herbs.
Delicious…..couldn’t stop eating it!
Absolutely delicious. Easy to make. Perfect flavors to make an ordinary chicken stew which can be bland to the next level.
As someone prone to botching recipes who uses the word “delicious” sparingly — this was very easy, and very delicious. Well done, and thank you.
Very good but prep took waaay longer than 15 minutes. Dicing carrots celery potatoes pepper—more like 45
I do a lot of the prepping as things are cooking. While the chicken is browning, I chop the potatoes/onions etc and this saves on time.